Chapter 20
When he opened his eyes, an old man was looking down at him.
The old man smiled benevolently and held out his hand.
Jeong Yushin raised his hand with difficulty and clasped the old man’s.
Smack!!
The old man slapped his hand away.
‘What is he trying to do?’
The old man pointed at his mouth and mouthed something. Jeong Yushin focused all his attention on his ears. A motor that had rusted from years of disuse began turning with a squeal.
“Three silver coins.”
‘Luke Wiseman.’
A Spirit Teacher who served the Spirit God of Wind.
One of the members of Labyrinth City’s Supreme Council.
“I apologize for my rudeness last time.”
A cracked voice came from his throat.
“Never mind. I expected we would meet again soon, but to run into each other like this must surely be the guidance of the Spirit God of Wind. Three silver coins.”
“Let’s put it on my tab. I have no money. What happened? The last thing I remember, I was inside the labyrinth.”
“The labyrinth investigation team says it found your party. You were unconscious for three days. You’re the only one who’s regained consciousness, Ska.”
“What is an investigation team?”
“Just as it sounds. You know there have been many newcomers lately?”
“Yes.”
“There were too many novice parties that entered the Great Labyrinth and failed to return, so they organized an investigation team and sent it out to find out what had happened.”
“When do you think the others will regain consciousness?”
“I don’t know. The goblin and the mage will probably wake up soon, but the dwarf may need a little more time. He was hit in a particularly bad place.”
A question occurred to him.
“Where’s the gnome?”
“The gnome? Weren’t you originally a four-person party?”
“There were five of us. We had a gnome guide. His name was Dito. Did you perhaps not see him in the shelter?”
“No, I didn’t see anyone like that.”
Was he still wandering around inside the labyrinth?
Assuming the worst, Dito would now be roaming the labyrinth in madness. Or perhaps he was already dead.
And then there was the emblem on the dagger Dito had dropped while fleeing.
The emblem had seemed familiar.
“It’s late, so sleep here tonight.”
“I don’t have any money for lodging.”
“It’s free. Then get some good rest.”
Luke left the ward.
He lay down on the bed and looked out the window at the starry night.
It was then that he realized this was a second-floor ward.
It had originally been a large ward meant to accommodate dozens of people. But every bed was empty now, and only the candle at Jeong Yushin’s corner cast a faint glow.
The empty ward was eerie.
‘Are the other party members on the first floor?’
He lay there thinking for a long time. The emblem looked strangely familiar. He felt as though he had seen it somewhere before, but he couldn’t remember where.
As he stared blankly at the ceiling, he heard footsteps.
Tap. Tap.
He turned his head toward the sound.
He couldn’t see anything.
He picked up the candle beside him and held it up to look around.
There was nothing there.
The sound stopped as well.
“What the...?”
His heart sank. He looked around the silent ward.
“Were you waiting for me?”
Dito’s face suddenly popped into view.
“Gah!!”
He was so startled that he nearly dropped the candle.
Seeing Yushin flustered, Dito giggled.
It was a low, eerie laugh.
‘Wasn’t he still in the labyrinth?’
Yushin asked.
“How did you get out alive?”
“I got lucky. A novice explorer party happened to be passing by.”
“That’s a relief.”
“Yeah. It really is. You never know what life will throw at you. But there’s something I want to ask you.”
“Just a moment.”
He lifted the candle close to Dito’s face. Dito frowned and slightly pulled his head away.
“What are you doing?”
“Nothing. I was just checking whether you were hurt.”
“Hmph. Even if something unexpected happened, it was only the second floor. There’s no way I’d get injured. What about you?”
‘Confirmed.’
“Me? Don’t ask. I can barely move. I only just managed to get up.”
Dito glanced at Jeong Yushin’s hand. The hand holding the candle was trembling faintly.
“I see. You look exhausted. You should get some rest.”
“Yes. It is a bit late for a sickbed visit, though.”
The human and the gnome met each other’s eyes in silence.
“......”
After a moment, Dito gave a hearty laugh and clasped his hands behind his back.
“Well, I’ll be going. Rest weeeell!!”
Dito’s dagger stabbed toward his neck.
Jeong Yushin twisted his body. The dagger sank deep into his shoulder. A searing pain flared up like fire.
“Kgh!!”
Light rose from beneath the blanket covering Jeong Yushin.
[Sacred Weapon]
A long spike of light pierced through the blanket and impaled the gnome’s solar plexus.
“Kuaaagh!!”
Dito collapsed onto the floor. When the spike of light vanished, blood streamed from the wound it had been blocking.
The gnome writhed like a worm, gurgling.
Jeong Yushin pushed aside the blanket with the hole in it and slowly rose from his bed.
If he hadn’t used the candlelight to block Dito’s view.
If he hadn’t drawn out his words and finished forming Sacred Weapon in time.
If he hadn’t endured the pain and groped uselessly at thin air.
He would have been the one to die.
“So that’s where I’d seen that familiar emblem.”
The dagger he had picked up during the battle with the Hobgoblin Warrior.
He hadn’t had time to inspect it closely in that urgent situation, so he couldn’t be certain. But after thinking it over, he realized it was exactly the same as the emblem engraved on the slave hunter’s bastard sword.
Many questions swirled through his mind.
Had he been lying about having a Fear Engraving?
If I was the target, why had he fired a crossbow at Kelton’s back?
Jeong Yushin approached Dito. The gnome lay on the floor, coughing up blood.
Still, there was one thing he had to ask.
“Why me? Was there really a reason to go this far just to kill one unremarkable Barbaroi?”
“...Fuck... off.”
Dito died with those words.
The blood flowing from Dito’s wound spread across the floor and reached Jeong Yushin’s feet.
Jeong Yushin’s body trembled faintly.
He had killed someone.
In the end, he had crossed a river from which there was no return.
His life could no longer be the same as before.
Beneath the starlight, he had received the baptism of original sin himself.
The witness to the sacrament of baptism was a single, lonely candle burning away.
Why?
To survive.
Jeong Yushin staggered over and closed Dito’s eyes.
The baptizer and the baptized were one and the same, but the blood belonged to the gnome.
* * *
That night, the shelter was thrown into an uproar. The priest on duty, who had been dozing on the first floor, saw Jeong Yushin’s bloodied appearance as he descended from the second floor, fell over in shock, and hurriedly called the guards.
A grim-faced guard captain came for Jeong Yushin and took him to the guard outpost. The guard outpost was not far from the shelter.
After his wounds were treated with ointment and bandaged, he was handcuffed and taken to a small room inside the outpost.
“We just confirmed the gnome’s corpse. You were in the same party?”
The guard captain seated across from him asked.
“Yes. His name was Dito. He was the guide for the bottom-tier party.”
“Why did you kill him?”
“Because he tried to kill me.”
“When we checked, he only had a dagger and no other weapons?”
“It was Sacred Weapon.”
“What? Were you a priest?”
“No. It’s an Engraving ability.”
“Pretty ordinary. Show me.”
“I can’t use it now. I’m out of mana.”
“A novice explorer?”
“Yes.”
The guard captain scratched his head.
“I don’t understand. Why did he try to kill you? Did you do something in the labyrinth?”
“I don’t know either. I didn’t do anything. The other party members can prove it.”
“Maybe. Tell me everything. Everything that happened in the labyrinth. We’ll make a judgment after that.”
Jeong Yushin calmly told him what had happened in the labyrinth.
Enough time passed for a cup of tea.
“...That’s all. After that, I lost consciousness, and the labyrinth investigation team rescued me and brought me to the shelter.”
The guard captain stroked his chin.
“Strange. Strange. From what you’ve told me, that gnome had no motive to kill you. Ttungttung!!”
The guard captain shouted toward the door. A moment later, there was a loud crash, the door flew open, and an otter beastman with a genial-looking face appeared.
“Yes, Captain!”
“Run to the shelter, wake up whichever of this Barbaroi’s party members is in good enough shape, and bring him here.”
“Yes, sir!!”
The otter beastman hurriedly ran off.
A little while later, Kelton entered the room.
His haggard appearance made him look ten years older.
“What is it? Amateur.”
“I called you in because we need to cross-check. Tell me what happened in the labyrinth.”
Kelton moistened his dry lips with his tongue.
Being a mage, Kelton calmly and meticulously recounted what had happened. The guard captain listened in silence, as though spellbound.
“...We won the fight, and Ska collapsed. A little later, the investigation team arrived at the shelter. I lost consciousness after that too, so I don’t know the details. Amateur.”
The guard captain looked at Ska with renewed interest.
“Impressive. A novice explorer killing a Hobgoblin Warrior—the kind that normally appears on the fourth or fifth floor—in that manner. Young as you are, you really are a Barbaroi.”
“I didn’t do it alone. It was possible because the other party members helped me.”
At Yushin’s humility, Kelton gave a faint smile.
The guard captain cleared his throat.
“Be that as it may. Then what on earth drove that gnome to do it?”
He briefly wondered whether he should mention the emblem on the dagger.
The emblem on the dagger was easy to notice. Even the village guard on the Pilgrimage Road had recognized it, hadn’t he?
Why would anyone deliberately engrave such an easily recognized emblem on a weapon?
What benefit could possibly come from doing something so foolish?
If he told him about it, would this guard captain believe him?
Could he trust the captain in the first place?
He didn’t know.
There were too many things he couldn’t understand, and racking his brain produced no particularly useful plan.
“The emblem engraved on the dagger is quite distinctive. Master Simeus may know about it. Why don’t you go and ask him?”
The guard captain’s eyes widened.
“You mean Master Simeus, the one who serves the Spirit God of Wind?! He knows you?”
“We traveled together on the way to Labyrinth City. He won’t pretend not to know me.”
“We can’t summon a Spirit Teacher over something this trivial. Besides, he’s a wanderer, so he’s difficult to meet in the first place. Is the emblem really that important? Answer me properly.”
“That’s...”
Just then, the door opened and someone entered.
The guard captain sprang to his feet.
“Lord Luke! What brings you all the way to this humble place?!”
“There was a disturbance at the shelter. Never mind. Don’t trouble yourself.”
“Even so...”
“I was on duty today. Think of my reputation, too.”
“Ah... understood.”
Luke looked at Kelton and the guard captain.
“Both of you, wait outside for a moment. I have something to ask this Barbaroi.”
At Luke’s words, both men rose from their seats and went outside.
Luke sat down in the guard captain’s seat.
“The guard captain told me everything.”
“Yes.”
“Tell me about that emblem. If your answer is unsatisfactory...”
Luke folded his arms and leaned back leisurely in the chair.
“I’ll kill you.”
A cold, emotionless gaze pressed down on Jeong Yushin.
‘Fuck. Is a priest even allowed to have eyes like that?’
He swallowed dryly.
Jeong Yushin haltingly recounted what had happened before he came to Labyrinth City. Luke listened without moving a muscle.
After the long story ended, Jeong Yushin closed his mouth.
After remaining silent for a long time, Luke slowly opened his mouth.
“Simeus is my first disciple.”
That wasn’t surprising.
‘No wonder their eyes looked alike.’
“Yes.”
“Three months ago, my disciple told me about a young Barbaroi. He said you were an interesting man. Who would have thought it was you? You’re lucky.”
“Pardon?”
“I’ll let you live. This time. If I catch you using my disciple’s name again, you’ll die.”
“....”
“I’ll be watching you.”
Luke rose from his seat. Jeong Yushin remained sitting still. A breeze rose where Luke had been and brushed past Jeong Yushin.
The wound on his shoulder had already healed. It was healing magic pushed to its absolute limit.
“Phew...”
He rose from his seat and went outside the room. The guard captain was standing stiffly.
“Leave.”
“Pardon?”
“I said leave. Lord Luke proved that you’re not guilty.”
“Yes.”
As he left the guard outpost, the chilly dawn air rushed over him. Kelton was waiting in front of the outpost.
“Looks like it was resolved. Amateur.”
“It seems so. Phew. Let’s go, Mage.”
Beneath a cluster of dawn stars.
In the tranquil silence, two humans walked toward the shelter.
“...Dito tried to kill you? Amateur.”
Kelton asked while keeping his eyes fixed on the shelter building.
“Yes.”
“I see. Amateur.”
Kelton acknowledged it with a few brief words. Bitter sorrow lay in them.
Kelton stopped walking and looked up at the sky.
The lament and resignation of one who had been cast out and abandoned lingered beneath the dawn stars in the form of a silent gaze.
“You must have been very close to Dito?”
Jeong Yushin clasped his hands behind his back and moved subtly closer to Kelton’s side. Faint mana began to gather in his hand.
“No. Not that close. Amateur.”
“They say there’s no medicine for male menopause. Stop staring at the stars and let’s live young.”
Kelton suddenly began to chuckle.
Jeong Yushin looked at Kelton with a faint smile at the corner of his mouth.
Kelton spoke.
“Barbaroi, in all my life, I’ve never seen a man so perfectly suited to the labyrinth as you. Amateur.”
He added,
“Don’t stand so close. It’s frightening. Amateur.”
Jeong Yushin took one step back. The mana gathered in his hand faded.
The two men began walking again.
His thoughts were tangled, but he tried to take solace in the fact that he had survived.
That was enough for this dawn.